Method and apparatus for handling strips



Sept; 1a, 1928, 1,684,867

' L. JOHNSON METHODAND APPA ATU FOR HANDLiNG s'rRIPs: Filed De cJfZ G,1924 INVENTOR %L Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

& FOUNDRY COMPANY, PENNSYLVANIA.

OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF METHOD AND APPARATUS FORHANDLING STRIPS.

Application filed December 26, 1924. Serial No. 758,026.

per minute. As the strips leave suclf rolls' at a comparatively hightemperature, it will be apparent that the proper disposition thereof isa matter of some concern.

i It has heretofore been proposed to, provide a rolling mill with arun-out table having a plurality of coiling devices cooperatingtherewith and adapted to be brought into operation at will. Suchaconstruction broadly is claimed in the.copending application of Bigger-tand Johnsfin, Serial No. 618,- 636, filed February 12, 1923. It has beenfound, however, that in such layouts it is practically essential thatsome of the ceiling devices will be located comparatively closely to thelast stand of rolls, while other of the coiling devices may be locatedat quite a distance therefrom. The time. interval represented betweenthe delivery of the strips from the last stand of rolls, and theirpassage tooneof the coiling devices has a direct hearing on thecharacter of the material produced. As the strips have a comparativelyhigh temperature when leaving the rolls, it

will be apparent that if they are immediately coiled, a considerableamount of this heat will be conserved and it has been found in practicethat coils from some of the coiling devices located more closelyadjacent the last stand of rolls are annealed to such an extent as to imair theirutility. Coils, on the other hand, 0 tained from one of thecoiling devices comparatively remote from the last stand of rolls mayhave entirely different characteristics due to the greater time whichhas elapsed before the strips have been coiled thereby. This makes itextremely difiicult to I deliver strips even from the same heat, re-

ferring to the original metal from which the billets are formed,having'uniform specifications. It is one of the objects of the presentinvention to provide a method and apparatus-for overcoming theseobjections and insure the production of strips having uniformcharacteristics.

In the accompanying drawings there are shown for purposes ofillustration only certain preferred embodiments of thepresent invention,these embodiments serving as diagrammatic illustrations only, and notdefining the limits of my invention as changes in the construction andoperation disclosed therein may be made without departing either fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of my broader claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a diagrammatic top plan view of one form of lay outembodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the constructionillustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged scale on the lineIII-III of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 2i1lustratinga slightly modifiedembodiment of the invention, and v Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure4 but representing a section along the line VV of Figure looking in thedirection of the arrows.

In carrying out the present invention, there may be associated with thelast stand of rolls 2 ofa strip mill a run-out table 3 adapted todeliver the strip to any desired point.- Located at spaced points alongthe run-out table, and preferably in superimposed relation with respectthereto may be ascries of coiling devices 4. Any one of these coilingdevices may be brought into operation at will by means of a deflector orgate 5 adapted to be dropped from a position in spaced relatiofi to therun-out table to a position. in which it will serve to deflect metalfrom the table, as illustrated for example, at the extreme right ofFigure 2.

It will be obvious that any desired number of these coiling devices maybe provided, each coiling device being adapted to deliver formed coilstosuitable storage and transfer devices 6. Each of these units, however,

' necessarily requires a considerable amount of floor space, therebymaking it necessary to space different units different distances fromthe last stand of rolls. This condition makes it impossible to deliverstrips to all of the coiling devices at the same temperature. Conditionsof operating economy, with respect to floor s ace, further require thatthe ,units shall all e as close to the mill as possible. Due to thepresent speed of delivery of the strips, coiling devices so locatedreceive the strips at a temperature high enough so that when they areformed into coils-there is apt to result an objectionable heattreatment.

In order to overcome the objections before pointed out, and still obtainthe required tially in the plane of the roll table. A fluid supplyconnection 9 may be provided for delivering. fluid under pressure to thetrough 7 to thereby insure the formation of a plu rality of cooling jetsthrough the plate 8 and against the underside of a strip passingthereover. At the same time, the strip may be .supplied from above by adistributing box 10 having a perforatedlower face 11 and a fluid supplyconnection 12. With this arrangement, it will be understood that theamount of'cooling fluid may be varied at will in order to insure coilingof the strips at the desired temperature,- The amount of cooling fluidmay also be varied in accordance wit-h the particular coiling unit whichis in operation, the amount of cooling increasing as the units inoperation more close 1y. approach the last standof rolls.

In Figures 4 and 5 there is illustrated a slightly modified embodimentof the invention in. which parts corresponding to the parts alreadydescribed are illustrated by the same reference characters having aprime afiixed' thereto. In this embodiment the cooling meansisillustrated as comprising opposing air boxes 7 and 10, these air boxesserving to deliver jets of cooling air to opposite si des of the strip.

It will be apparent that with either form of the invention, or by theuse of difi'erent modifications thereof, it will be possible to bringthe temperature of the strips down to a point at which they may besatisfactorily coiled and at which the coiling temperature of successivestrips may be made more nearly uniform. In this manner a more nearly.

uniform product is insured without any loss of time, and withoutrequiring any subsequent heat treatment as heretofore been necessary. R.1 Certain of the advantageous features of the present invention will berealized in mills not utilizin coilin devices, but utilizing some otherEorm 0 material handling mechanism, as for example a piler. At thepresent time it is not uncommon practice to cut strip into lengths witha flying shear and pile it hot. In such"'installat-ions .-the artifiscial cooling will be of advanta e. I therefore use the expressionmaterlal handling means in its generic sense in the claims for thepurpose of defining all such uses whether a reel, a hot bed, a piler orother means.

The term fluid as used in the claims is likewise used generically asinclusive both of liquid and gas.

The advantages of the present invention arise from the provision of somemeans intermediate the rolling mill and one or all of the coilingdevices for artificially changmg the temperature of the strips asdelivered 1 by the mill I claim:

1; In a strip mill, a roll stand a pluralit of coiling devicescooperating with said ro 1 stand but located at different distancestherefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand but located atdifferent distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said rollstand ,to any of said coiling devices at will, and means insuringdelivery of said 'stri to all of said coiling devices at substantiallythe same temperature irrespective of their distance from the roll stand,substantiallyas described.

2. In a strip mill, a roll stand, a plurality of coiling devicescooperating with said roll stand but located at different distancestherefrom, means for guiding strip from said roll stand but located atdifferent distances therefrom, means for guiding strip from said rollstand to any of said coiling devices atwill, and means insuring deliveryof said strip to all of said coiling devices at substantially the sametemperature irrespective of their distance from the roll stand, saidmeans comprising artificial cooling means located intermediate the rollstand and the closest coiling device, substantially as described.

3. The method for insuring uniformity of a characteristic of thematerial in a plurality of reels of metal formed at unequal distancesfrom a set of rolls, which comprises passing the metal constituting thereels through a thermal control device after it leaves the rolls andvarying the effectiveness of the thermal control device in accordancewith after it leaves the rolls and varying the efthe distance over whichthe metal travels befectiveness of the thermal control device in forereaching the desired reel. accordance with the distance over which the4. The method for insuring uniformity of metal travels before reachingthe desired 5 the material in a plurality of metal workmetalworkingdevice.

ing devices disposed at unequal distances In testimony whereof I havehereunto set from a set of rolls which comprises passing my hand. ametal through a thermal control device LANE JOHNSON.

